Before I begin, I will welcome the ruling of the High Court in Belfast this morning that the British Government's legacy Act is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. It would be opportune to get an update on the interstate case early next week.

In 2017, thug an Rialtas agus an tAire, an Teachta Harris, gealltanas nach mbeidh aon leanbh ag fanacht ar obráid scoliosis ar feadh níos mó ná ceithre mhí ach briseadh an gealltanas sin do na páistí, do dhaoine i mo Dháilcheantar féin cosúil le Kylie Ann Stewart agus do go leor daoine eile. Sa lá atá inniu ann, tá go leor páistí ag fanacht ní hamháin ceithre mhí, ach blianta faoi choinne na hobráide seo.

Last week, children and families came to the Dáil. Like Kylie Ann Stewart and her parents, they travelled from across the State to have their voices heard. Kylie Ann, who comes from Kilmacrennan in my own county of Donegal, is ten years old. She is a brave and beautiful young girl. I had the opportunity to speak to her outside the gates of Leinster House. She has been failed by the Government, by the State and by the commitment the Minister gave her and her family seven years ago. Kylie Ann has been waiting five years for critical scoliosis surgery. She and her parents were first told she needed scoliosis surgery when she was four years old, yet she continues to wait. Her condition is acute, her pain is great and her parents are heartbroken. Right now, Kylie Ann's back is curved at 138°. Her parents have been told that if her spine curves by a further 10°, it will not be possible to operate on her. Kylie Ann has had to be especially careful with the skin that covers the bones that protrude from her back. There is a risk that the skin could break down, increasing the chance of infection.

I say all of this because, while we will discuss numbers and so on later, this is the reality Kylie Ann and her parents have to manage every single day, and many other Kylie Anns out there. We in this House cannot contemplate what it must be like to endure that as a ten-year-old child or as a parent who has to watch as months and years pass without any sign of an operation while knowing that the clock is ticking and that, if the curvature gets worse, the operation will not happen at all.

This is life for the 288 children across our State who languish on waiting lists for critical scoliosis surgery. Last week, I had the opportunity to chat to many of them. They came here to the Dáil to make their voices heard and to say that enough is enough. Seven years ago, as Minister for Health, Deputy Harris gave a commitment that, by the end of 2017, no child would be waiting longer than four months for scoliosis-related surgery; a promise he made, a promise he broke. That promise made to Kylie Ann and a great many other children has been broken year after year. There are more than 70 children who have been waiting longer than four months for this surgery. Like Kylie Ann, many have been waiting for years. Kylie Ann has been waiting for this operation for more than half her life. Two years ago, the Minister's successor, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, made the same commitment. He announced €19 million in funding for scoliosis-related surgery. Last week, he told the Dáil that he does not know if all of this money was even spent for this purpose. At the same time, the Government is asking parents and advocates to trust the system. After years of broken promises, how could these children and their parents have any faith in the system?

There are things that can be done for the 288 children who are waiting for scoliosis-related surgery. Previously, those who were well enough to travel could access treatment abroad through a specific tailored programme. That programme was ended before the pandemic in 2019 and waiting lists started to rise again. It beggars belief that the treatment abroad scheme was stopped when children were waiting more than four months for their operations. We need to build domestic capacity for those who cannot travel. The Government needs to identify a surgeon who can perform this work, even if it means an international search or a bespoke arrangement. The Government must establish a truly independent task force to get to grips with this scandal. What is the Government's plan for Kylie Ann? Has the Government or Children's Health Ireland sourced a surgeon at home or abroad who can do this work? Will the Government establish an independent task force with the remit set out last week, which was to engage with and act on the concerns of parents and advocates to improve the health service for all of these children? In his response, will the Minister also tell us why anyone, including these children and their families, should trust anything he says given that he made that promise seven years ago and broke it?

I join with the Deputy in acknowledging the ruling from the High Court in Belfast issued earlier today by Mr. Justice Colton. It is a long ruling of approximately 200 pages but it seems positive from the perspective of the Irish Government, which wants to work to ensure that all families get justice, which is what they deserve. Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are in close contact with organisations assisting the plaintiffs in this case. Many families in Northern Ireland stand to be impacted by the legacy Act and they will be studying today's judgment carefully. I have no doubt there will be an opportunity to provide an update on that in due course.

I thank the Deputy for raising an extraordinarily important issue that everybody in this House and in this country wants to see resolved. He referenced Kylie Ann and he is right; nobody in this House can imagine the pain that she and her family are going through. When I was Minister for Health, I met many families whose children were awaiting scoliosis procedures. I remember them; I remember their names and their faces. I know something of what they were going through, although none of us can fully imagine it. As a result, I decided to place an unrelenting focus on reducing scoliosis waiting times in 2017.

The Deputy is correct; the HSE told me and mentioned in its strategic corporate plan that it wanted to reach a point at which no child was waiting longer than four months and to bring scoliosis surgery waiting times in line with those under the National Health Service in the UK. With hand on heart, I can say that, as a result of that commitment, we saw very significant progress in achieving that target. The Deputy does not have to take my word for it, although I am sure he would not. However, I am sure he will accept the word of the Ombudsman for Children. A report published by that ombudsman has shown that, by the end of 2017, the number of children waiting longer than four months was down to 29. The report also states that the ombudsman met with many people and that, in meetings with the Department of Health, the children's hospital group, consultants, hospital staff and management and myself, he noted an absolute commitment from all involved to addressing this matter in the best interests of children. People worked tirelessly and we saw waiting times reduce very significantly. We opened an additional theatre in Crumlin and hired additional theatre nurses. Many more surgeries were carried out in those years than had been carried out before and many children got access to life-transforming surgeries. All of that is true.

The Deputy referenced the pandemic. He again does not need to take my word in that regard. An article from the Irish Examiner of 8 September 2020 mentioned that the closure of theatres and reduction of certain health services during the pandemic had a real impact and led to progress reversing. As a result, we have seen the health service working night and day to try to build on that progress. My successor, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, is extraordinarily committed to getting where we need to get to and to getting this thing back on track because the Deputy is right; we are not talking about numbers but about real children and no one wants to see them suffering.

It is important for parents to know that there are extra theatres opened and additional theatre staff in place. Some €19 million has been allocated and that funding has done real tangible things. It has resulted in an additional 193 staff working in the health service. These are doctors, nurses and radiographers working on spinal surgery in Cappagh, Crumlin and Temple Street. As the Minister for Health told the House last week, another wave of capacity is now due to come onstream. There is another theatre due to open in Temple Street and another MRI scanner due to open in Crumlin, along with 24 additional beds. From memory, I know that beds are a core component of the delivery of these surgeries. I believe 20 of these are already open.

The Deputy raised two specific questions. One related to the issue of a task force. The Government and I believe that is a sensible suggestion. A task force will be established and it will include all stakeholders, including patient representatives and clinicians, whose inclusion is also important. The Minister for Health met with a number of advocacy groups last week to discuss the terms of reference for that task force and patient advocates were very clear about what they want that task force to do. In collaboration with the advocacy groups, work is now progressing on addressing the terms of reference. The task force will have an independent chair and, contrary to some of the misinformation that is out there, it will not report to Children's Health Ireland.

I asked the Minister what his plan was for these children and for Kylie Ann? I used Kylie Ann as an example but we could name many other children. She has been waiting for five years. The curvature of her spine is 138°. If it increases by a further 10°, it will be inoperable. During this five-year period, the Minister, Deputy Harris, has been in government, including as Minister for Health. Over two years ago, his successor, the current Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, made a commitment, just as the Minister did seven years ago on the basis of a plan, that by the end of that year, nobody would be waiting more than four months. It still has not happened. Kylie Ann and many others like her are not waiting for four months or even four years; some of them have been waiting longer than that. I will ask the question again. What is the plan for these individuals? The Minister, Deputy Harris, spoke of money being invested. The Minister for Health, standing where the Minister is now standing, said he was carrying out an audit because he did not even know if all the money he allocated went to scoliosis treatment. That was two years after he announced that allocation and on the day we brought forward a Private Members' motion because the issue is not receiving the attention it needs.

The reason I have put this into the life experience of the child is that we have to be children centred here. What is the Government going to do? For the past seven years the Minister has been in this Government, including as Minister for Health when he made this commitment, which is drastically failing these children. It is simply not good enough.

Your time is up, Deputy.

What we will do for Kylie Ann, children right across the country, parents and families is get this back on track. We saw the progress that could be made in 2017. We saw the fall in wait times, the extra children getting their services and the Ombudsman for Children's report welcoming some of that. We now have an extra €19 million. There are additional staff. I am very clear on that. There are 193 more staff and a new theatre due to open. New diagnostic equipment, an MRI scanner, is due to come on stream in Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin. Let us not suggest that any of us has greater concern than anyone else because I could equally ask the Deputy what he is going to do. While he has rightly raised the issue over the last while-----

Let us in there.

Hang on a second. I am not planning on doing that at all, to be honest.

At least I would not break my promise to these children, as you did.

With respect, as Deputy Cairns said in a reminder to the House yesterday, "Show me your budget and I will tell you your priorities". I have here Sinn Féin's alternative budget. I ask the Deputy to direct me to the page that references scoliosis, spinal surgeries or any additional funding. This Government is absolutely determined to deliver for these children. It is working night and day. There is a task force in place and engagement with the advocacy groups. Consultant surgeon David Moore has been appointed to head up a paediatric spinal surgery management unit. There is no lack of compassion and there will be more delivery.

That was seven years ago.